Florida Panthers Defenseman Aaron Ekblad Unlikely to Play vs. Boston Bruins

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad is unlikely to play in Saturday afternoon's game against the Boston Bruins.

The Florida Panthers will likely be without Aaron Ekblad on Saturday afternoon against the Boston Bruins.

Ekblad, who coach Paul Maurice said would be a game-time decision, will most likely miss the game with a nagging issue that he played through on Wednesday night against the Utah Hockey Club.

The injury is not considered to be a long-term issue, per Maurice.

Ekblad has two goals and 20 points in 41 games this season. His absence would leave a hole on Florida’s first pair, top power play unit and the penalty kill.

“I don’t think he goes today, we’ll see,” Maurice said. “Game-time decision. He’s got to come in, get checked up with the trainers, but we want to be careful. There’s nothing sinister long-term, but he played the other night. I thought he played very well with it. The question is how many times to we want to do that? We got to let his thing heal.”

If Ekblad cannot play, Tobias Bjornfot will draw into the lineup for his second game of the season.

Bjornfot took one shot, threw one hit and was a minus-2 in 15:29 of time-on-ice in his season debut against the Colorado Avalanche.

“Oh boy, I liked his game today,” Maurice said after Monday night’s game in Colorado. “He makes his decisions early. He might not be the fastest guy in the league, but because he’s smart enough, he can close the gap. He made good decisions with the puck and I liked how competitive he was.”